Southern Drawl Kayak Fishing

Steve Gibson
April 3, 2010
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report

Action exploded this week as the weather turned beautiful. I had a number of trips and we were successful each time out.
On Tuesday, I had Jason Beary of Warren, Pa., out for a half-day. We fished Palma Sola Bay in Bradenton. Wind made it difficult, but we were able to tuck behind some mangroves and cast flies to spotted seatrout.

I found these trout about a month ago and knew they would hit on the outgoing tide. Jason caught a half dozen slot trout on my Big Eye Baitfish Fly. Largest fish went 20 inches and all trout were in the slot.
On Wednesday, I had Todd Dawson and his son, Matt, 14, of Bradenton. Since the win was predicted to blow out of the northwest, I chose the west side of Sarasota Bay. We launched at Buttonwood Harbor and paddled south to a deep grass flat just north of Harborside Moorings. Using D.O.A. CAL Jigs with gold paddle tail and gold shad tails, we caught and released 57 spotted seatrout to 4 pounds. Action was steady. In addition, we caught flounder and a number of ladyfish.

On Thursday, I had Jason Beary for another half-day outing. Wind was out of the east, so we launched at Stephens Point on Sarasota Bay. When we arrived, the bay was very calm.
We paddled out and immediately started catching fish. On the day, Jason caught and released a load of pompano, Spanish mackerel, bluefish, ladyfish and spotted seatrout. All were taken on 6-weight fly rod and my Big Eye Baitfish Fly. One mackerel went 4 pounds. The pompano went up to 3 ½ pounds.

On Friday, it was Brian Bourdages of Traverse City, Mich. We had originally scheduled his all-day outing on Monday, but weather forced us to reschedule on Friday. Good decision. Brian had a blast on his second saltwater fly-fishing outing and he caught a good number of fish.
Pompano, Spanish mackerel, ladyfish and spotted seatrout put on a good show. Brian landed pompano to 3 pounds, Spanish mackerel to 2, seatrout to nearly 5 and a load of ladyfish. Only bluefish eluded his Big Eye Baitfish Fly.

We fished the deep grass off Stephens Point in Sarasota Bay.
This action should last for at last another couple of weeks. It's the spot to fish on an east wind.
I'm updating my fleet of kayaks. I think I'm going to add a couple of Native Watercraft Manta Ray 14s. They're great looking boats that will be perfect on those days when the conditions call for it.

Sarasota Fishing Forecast:

We look for continued hot action on the deep grass as long as the weather is nice.